Top 10 Breweries 2008

These are my favorite 10 breweries from 2008 based on the new-to-me criteria, roughly in order:

Jolly Pumpkin Brewing
I originally had thought this brewery must be from Belgium after being introduced to two of their beers at a few local venues (CityBeer and La Trappe). Much to my amazement, they are actually a small artisianal brewery from Michigan with a full booth at GABF. They were serving five different Belgian style ales out of 750mL champagne corked bottles, most of them a variation of Flanders Style Barrel Aged Sour Ales. The Luciernaga (winner GABF Gold for the Saison category) and Calabaza Oro (2 GABF medals in previous years) were my favorite, both complex, refreshing and sour, but I also had the Oro de Clabaza, La Roja, the Maracaibo and the Bam Biere, all were delightful. We went back for seconds the first night of GABF, but by the time we returned on the third afternoon for some more, they were all out. Looking forward to getting my hands on the Perseguidor next year, a sour blend from select barrels served in only 12oz bottles.

Green Flash Brewing
Another new-to-me brewery for 2008, I first found Green Flash of San Diego in my local BevMo in February. I began with what I could find at the time, a delicious Trippel, a West Coast IPA and a Double Stout, which was one of my favorite Stouts for the year. While I enjoyed these findings, I wasn't really aware of their range until experiencing Le Freak and Barrel Aged Stout at GABF and then their Grand Cru, a dark strong, at the Pacific Coast Brewing Co annual holiday beer tasting, which was another of my favorites for the year. Bravo.

Firestone Walker Brewing
I won't lie: I've never had a taste for Firestone Walker's beers before this year. However, with their release of Union Jack IPA this year (GABF gold medal winner for American IPA this year, and also my personal favorite) and some much more unique barrel aged products I had at their Brewery Night at the Toronado earlier this year, they top my list as most improved. I particularly loved their Parabola (Imperial Barrel Aged Stout), Saucer Full of Secrets (High Gravity Belgian Barrel Aged Ale) and Velvet Mirkin (Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout), the latter which I'm seeing more and more in local bars. Let hope they get more of these beers out of the labs and tasting festivals and out onto the shelves!

Port Brewing-Lost Abbey
As far as Southern California beers go in San Francisco, until a year or two ago as far as I can tell , Stone has pretty much had a corner on the market. With the advent of wonderful beer stores CityBeer and Healthy Spirits, though, gems like Port Brewing and their Lost Abbey Brand have found their way into the city. Although a few of their beers I had at GABF may have been a bit rich for my palate (Serpents Stout, Ten Commandments), they have a consistent lineup of great Belgian Ales. My favorites included Judgement Day, Lost and Found Abbey Ale, and the Red Barn Ale.

Russian River
I won't be shy: Russian River is my favorite brewery. In the world. Vinnie, their Brewer, is a wizard.
It falls so far down on the list this year because of the limited new offerings with which to acquaint myself. The year started strong with Beatification, a wonderful 100% spontaneously fermented Gueze style ale. A trip to the Brewery in the spring allowed me to experience Compunction, an sour-barrel aged ale brewed with pluots, and Rejection, a Belgian Black ale, both on tap, the latter of which I took a growler of for home. Both were good, but La Fleurette was little flat, not as sour and complex as their other barrel aged sour ales, and Rejection a little understated. In the summer, they had a Toronado Russian River night where I sampled La Fleurette, a joint venture with and Italian brewery and featuring rose petals, but I couldn't get past the floral, peppery character. Then at GABF came Consecration : A dark Belgian ale aged in American oak Cabernet Sauvignon Barrels, with Brett, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus (AKA, a wild yeast strain and two bacterias) and currants. Fantastic, rich, sour ale.
Good news: Consecration is in production, we should see it in 375 ml bottles this spring!

Deschutes
I love Deschutes. I've been drinking their beers every since I moved to San Francisco 7 years ago. Mirror Pond isn't my favorite, but is solid Pale Ale. Black Butte is my favorite Porter right behind Anchor. Obsidian is a slightly bitter but solid and roasty Stout. The problem is, I hadn't had or even heard of anything new from them in years (well, there was the Bond Street series, which I had no idea was them until just now though I have never been a huge fan.)
Enter the Reserve Series: the Abyss Imperial Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout, the Dissident, a Flanders Red Style ale (and a 2008 GABF Gold Medal Winner) and Black Butte XX, an Imperial Porter. These heavy hitters were very poplar
at GABF, and had some of the longest lines there.

Bear Republic
I've always thought of Bear Republic as a sort of a one-trick pony. Racer 5? Yeah, that beer is awesome. Best IPA out there. A night sessioning Racer 5, yes, that is a bad idea, but I won't say I haven't done it or won't again.
Don't get me wrong, Hop Rod Rye and Big Bear Stout are both enjoyable, but not outstanding, a little to middle of the road for their respective styles. I really didn't expect them to do anything more with IPAs or hops for that matter until I saw their booth at GABF, where they were serving about 8 beers, 6 of them never before witnessed by myself. I tried four: the Rebellion, the Apex, the EZ Ryder, and the Crazy Ivan. The Crazy Ivan, a Belgian Abbey-Dark Strong, was a little too sweet, thin and bitter at the finish. The EZ Ryder was pretty great, a 100% Rye Beer, which in itself is amazing, but didn't quite stand up to the first 100% Rye I had the night before. The true cheers go to the Rebellion and the Apex, both IPAs. The Rebellion is an in your face hop bomb, and all Simcoe, and much thinner and even dare say enjoyable-drinkable than Racer 5. The Apex was a Double IPA, and a fresh hopheads wet dream, with the powerful resin flavor, overt grassiness and citrus-earthy varieties showcased. Please bottle these two limited edition ales ASAP!

Allagash
New Years Resolution for 2009? Have more Allagash beers. I had plenty of opportunities, especially at CityBeer, to sample more of their offerings in 2008, but at $16-$30 a bottle, I was, well, a little reserved on putting that much up front. Their Classics Series I love, mostly the White, Trippel and Grand Cru, and they are very affordable at $6-$9 a bottle. Curieux, their Trippel aged in Jim Beam Barrels, is amazing in its complexity, and is possibly my favorite American barrel aged beer. I had a chance to sample four of their ales this year, and still I want more. It started with the Odyssey, a barrel aged then blended wheat beer. At GABF, I had the chance to sample their Interlude, a french oak (including merlot and syrah) barrel aged ale with Brett, and their Black Ale, a more stout like version of the style that leans toward the silky chocolate. At La Trappe I had the chance to try Les Deux Brasseurs, a collaboration between de Proef Brewing, which is a sour ale much along the lines of Orval (the orginal sour ale from my opinon).

De Proef is a brewery in Belgium that make such greats as Zoetzurr and Flemish Primitive. They make Dozens of very hard to find, mostly sour barrel aged, beers, the best list which I can find here. (2010 resolution: have more De Proef Beers, even if that means going to the brewery). For the past two years, they have been collaborating with American brewers on an ale: Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing for their Signature ale in 2007, and Jason Perkins of Allgash in 2008. This year promises to be John Mallet of Bells. 2010, Vinnie of Russian River? Anyone?

Sorry for the departure, De Proef would have been on this list if I had more. I finished the Allgash roundup this year on New Years Eve with the Four Malt, a rich abbey style ale fermented four times. It was a very enjoyable, malty and rich ale, a great way to end the year.

Brugge
Another artisianal brewery in the Upper Midwest specializing in Belgian Ales? Impossible, right?
Well, although they only had four offerings at the GABF, all bottle conditioned in 750mL champagne style bottles, they were delicious. They keep the offerings simple and straightforward, just like their product design and packaging (which gets my nod for best of 2008): A Black, a White, the Trippel de Rippel and the Diamond Kings. My favorites were the Black, a dry, rich, estery black ale, and the Diamond Kings, an dry and sour blond ale, and the most direct reference in their lineup I to Brugge itself (or Bruges, how we English speakers refer to it). The trippel was complex and fruity, and the wit had a dry, slightly farmhouse-feety character. Needless to say, I came back for samples the whole festival, as they somehow managed to fly under the radar. Now, if we could some how just figure out how to get their beer out of Indiana and to the West Coast.

Boulevard
My history with Boulevard goes way back, and was one of the original craft beers I began drinking in college at the University of Kansas, right after finding the new world of beer at Free State Brewing Co. They had three flagship beers at the time: their Pale Ale, Unfiltered Wheat and Bully Porter. Their Pale was good, a little on the malty English side (I knew little else then, alas). Their wheat was their most popular, a quaffable session beer with nice grainy overtones. Their Bully Porter, however, has always been their best offering in my opinion, as it opened my eyes to the world of dark beers beyond Guinness. A dark beer that could be robust, bitter, chocolatey, and warm. It obtained pseudo-mystical qualities in my mind. What did they put in this?
Much to my chagrin, there was no Bully Porter at the festival. It had been three years since I'd last had one, and I although I was quite upset, I wasn't going to let this get me down. They had Bob's 47, an Octoberfest, the Dingle Wide IPA, and two, count them, two Saisons, one fermented with Brett. The Saison was on the blond, dry and fruity end of the spectrum, and the Saison-Brett had a wonderful dynamic of sweet and sour that made me come back for more and more. Most of these are part of their recent Smokestack Series, bottle conditioned (often limited edition ales) that also includes trippel, quadrpel, and a Bourbon Barrel Quadrupel, a blended barrel aged quadrupel with cherries, a limited edition beer which I would love to get my hands on before they run out. Anyone?